Machine for making link mesh



A. C. PRATT. MACHINE FOR MAKING LINK M ESH.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. Il.

Patented Dee. 12, 1922.

Patented lg, ltffl.,

ALPnoivso eoivis'roen tenante, on nssieivnnnjs, To We' sniiis, A connonnfiioii on i,

.ia/inv', on ienninviitnn, nii-issnenni-l i `Applikationr filed. ctoliei' 11, 1920. Serial No.- 416,199.51

To allen/tom t concern:

Be it known that l, ALrHoirso Coiii'suiocns PRATT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Deep River, in the .county of li/itiddle-` sex, State of Connecticut? have invented oertain new and useful Improvements lin 1li/1achines for Making .Link Mesh;` and T do hereby declare the following tobe a full,` clear, and exact description of the invention,y

such as will enable others skilled in thevart to which it appertains to 4make and use the saine,

This invention relates to machines for making link mesh and has reference particularly to the tools employed iii shaping the` rings. The invention is of particular utility in connectionwith mesh machines of the type illustrated in Letters Patent -los.

948,615 and 1,317,726 heretofore granted' to me. 7

In such `mesh machines, links are made from pieces of straight wire; the ywire is fed from a reel and a cutting` tool is operated periodically to cut oft piecesofequal length.

Each piece is then loperated iiponiby form ingtools to bend it into the form` of aistaple 'and then this staple is moved forward so as to project the legs of the staple through rings in the mesh already formed. "Thereafter the staple is'operated upon by dies `to complete the formation of the ring. s

In 'order to bend the` straightlwire to the form of a staple it has been customiry to" employ what is known asa :disappearing anvil construction. This .includes a mei/1 able anvil mounted 'in the path of movement curved surface to of a die and presenting the die. The piece of straight wire is fed between the anvil and the die vand this die y 40 moved forward to bend the wire about the Slight movement ofl the straight piecey of; wirev y lassociated with the die. ment ofthe piecefof wire bevery slight still ,in tivo iliartswhicligare relatively movable `character referred to along the lface of the anvil before it wis gripped byther cooperating die or by.` the i ends of spring-prongsiwhieh are sometimes Even if this movei it may be enough to carry thelegs of the staple out of alignment with `the legs ofthe meshthrough which they are intended'to be projected. 'Faulty' operation inthis respect '60 `could be avoided ifit were permissible to` i provide a groove in'thefa'ce of theanvil of a size corresi)ending to th'e'wire `which is beingr used for then this Igggroove;ivoiilil hold the piece of wire against unintended movement-ii- `But the provision of suoli a groovefis not permissible because ofthe necessity for move` ing the anvil in the'direction of its length to carry it ont of the staple immediately after the formation of the staple has been comH pleted so that the die may move forward in t a straight lline and preferably with .af continuous movement. i 1

Tn accordance with the present invention,` the parts are so constructed as te completely eliniinatelthe possibility of such unintended movement of the piece of wire before it gripped between thefjarts which bend itinto a staple. For this purpose the anvil is :made

and by reason of the fact'that it is'so made `in two' parts it is possible toprovide inits operative face a groove of substantially the e saine size as thewire for holding the wire againstslippage. The divisicnxline between `the two parts of the anvilis in a. plane passfor therecepticn of the wire` Thus the two partsform an anvil which may be opened atl its centei` movement of. thetwo parts ing` through the bottoniof` the groove formed 'away from each otherand out of tliestaple.

By reason ofi-this formation yof th e anvil, itis possible to provide. groove in its oigierativey face iiitowhirh the wire is fed by the wire-` feedingr means` and when ysuch a groove is 9 provided, the piece oflwire `when cutoff is 1@ `held against slippage `so reliably `as to com@ pletely eliminater faulty operation :fot v the The invention may be employed in conne-c7` 1,00 tion with `any one of thel forms of -link-formfi line; tools which ha, e been ,devisedfflgieretcg inserer ,of the anvil `2 1 and these levers 22 are rocked I-on i their pivots against y the ftension .of their springs Zafto carryfonepart ofthe anvil l upwardly and theother downwardly out of the ypath of movementoof the dierod and plunger 10. Then ther forward movement of the plunger 10 is arrested by any suitable means and the die-rod moves forward alone carrying the staple with it and projecting the legs of the staple through 'rings of the mesh on the mandrel. These ends of the legs are carried into contact with the groove in the corresponding inner die 33, which die is moved outwardly by the cam rod 32 at the appropriate time.

The prongs 16 on the sleeve 15 engage the end of the inner die 33 and the sleeve 15 is moved backwardly upon the die-rod 11 and the end of die-rod 11 and the inner die 33 come together so as to complete the formation of the link into a ring. rIhe rod 11 is then retracted carrying sleeve 15 with it, and when the sleeve engages the shoulder on the plunger at the rear of the space provided for the reception of the sleeve the latter is moved to its initial position with its prongs projecting beyond the end of the die-rod. Toward the end of the retractile movement of the rod 11, the 4plunger 10` piece of wire from which a link is formed during the Imomentary periodffollowing the cutting olf of the piece of wire for a link and preceding the gripping of that piece of wire between the anvil and the devices whichk shape the wire about the anvil to form a staple. This is Idone by providing a groove on the face of the'anvil into which the wire is projected when feeding it in position for cutting andthe formation of a link. The provision of this groove for so supporting the piece of wire is made possible by the fact that the anvilis made in two parts divided on a plane passing through the bottom of the groove, the two parts being moved in opposite directions away from each other and out of the staple formed on them in order to permit of continuous straight line movement of the die-rod to project the legs of the staple through rings of the mesh and then form the staple into a ring.

In the foregoing I have described myinvention as applied to a machine constructed in accordance with the disclosure of Patent No. 948,615, but it will be understood that the invention may be utilized in any form of lmesh machine and in connection with link-forming tools of any construction pro-y which apiece of wire bent to the form of j a 'staple by a device which moves upto' Vthe v the anvil and moving them out of the path n ofthe die, such,` for instance. `as the extensions on the pivoted levers 22 and the abut `ments Q3 which engage those extensions. Instead, the die-member itself may be the element which moves the two parts of the anvil out of its path of movement, as, for instance, by cam surfaces on the die-mem-- ber and on the anvil parts or by pressure exerted directly from the die-member through the piece of wire to the anvil parts.

I claim:

1. In a machine for making link mesh, a link-forming mechanism for shaping a piece ofwire into a staple and for projecting the legs of the staple through links of a piece of mesh and then forming the staple into a link, including an anvil about which a piece of wire is bent to the form of a staple, the said anvil being formed in two parts which are movable relatively to withdraw them from position after the formation of the staple has been completed.

Q. In a machine for making link mesh, a link-forming mechanism 4for shaping piece of wire into a staple, and for projecting the legs of the staple through links of a piece. of mesh and then forming the staple into a link, including a die, an anvil formed in two parts and having a groove therein at the junction of the two parts, means for feeding wire between the die and anvil, means for moving the die to bend a piece of wire about the anvil and then carry that piece of wire to the mesh, and means for moving the two parts of the anvil relatively and out of the path of 'movement of the die to permit the passage of the die beyond the anvil.

3. In a machine for making link mesh, a die, an anvil formed in two part-s and having a groove formed therein at the junction of the` two parts, means for feeding wire between the die and anvil so that the `wire extends within the said groove, means for moving the die to bend the wire about the anviltok the form of a staple and then to carry 'the staple to the mesh being formed, and means for moving the two parts of the anvil in opposite directions out of the path of movement of the die immediately after the ,formation of the staple so that the die 'may move past the anvil and carry the staple with it.

4L. Ina machine for making link mesh, a die, an anvil formed in two parts and having a groove therein at the junction of the two parts, two pivoted spring-operated levers, each carrying one of the parts of the anvil, means for feeding wire between the ies operate'them and move tlie parts of the anvil in opposite ydirections, out of the path of movemenfJ of the die immediately after the 10 formation of the staple is4 completed.

In testimony whereof Ia'ix my signature. 4

ALPHQNSO ooMsTooKPRATT. 

